Safety device for elevators.



No. 887,651. 4 PATENTED MAY l2, 1908,' Wt J. KERN.

SAFETY DEVGB FOR BLEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

No. 887,651. PATENTED MAY l2, 1908.

W. J. KERN.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR BLEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20,1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

Wwemis. @fz Mm) Kwon I @www l 69%@ Y* anism from the car itself whendesired as dividually yielding latches which, when adl nection with thecar and including a circuit i' whereby the said mortise bo ts may .berethe valve controllinfT lever even though a -proved locking device.;Fig. 3, an elevation of f raised and lowered in a shaft by ordinary andver L, by which the usual motor-contr(illing symbolicall the practicalPATENT citric-,

WILLIAM KERN, OF WEST l-IOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

i SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

No. 887,651. Specification of Application led June 20,

To all 'whom it may concern:

Bc it known that I, WILLIAM J. KERN, a citizen of th'e United States,residing in Test Hoboken, Hudson c unty, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices forElevators, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to the class of electrical appliances used tolock the motor valve controlling lever when a door is opened in theelevator shaft, and are designed t-o afford a simple, cheap andeffective automatic locking device adapted to be run on low voltage, inwhich lateral strain and wear are reduced to the minimum, and in whichprovision is made for releasing the locking mechhereinafter set forth.

The invention consists in the arrangement and construction of partshereinafter described and claimed-specifically, distinguishing featuresbeing a pair of retractile, in-

vanced, constitute a mortise `or socket for engagement with thecontrolling lever, and an auxiliary electric circuit arranged 1nconopening and closing device u on the latter,

tracted by the operator on the carto release door in the'elevator shaftbe open.

In the accompanyin drawings, Fi ure 1, is a view illustratingiafrrammatical y and application of my invention; ig. 2, is 'anelevation of my imthe same taken at ri ht angles toAFig. 2; Fig. 4, afront' view oft e lock; Fig. 5, a detail view of one of the bolts Fig.6, a view showin lthe bolts advanced and illustrating the re ation ofthe'valve controlling lever thereto; Fi 7, a section on plane of line7-7-Eig. 6.

l herein show and. refer to only those parts, of an ordinary elevatorsystem essential to an my invention. Thus C represents symbolically acar of any desired construction to be Well known means through themedium of the line c, extending from the ear to the lemechanism M isactuated. l), l), indicate in like manner-the doors to the elevator'shaft and are shown upon the left' hand side of the Letters Patent.

1907. Serial No. 379.826.

Patented May 12, 1908.

sheet for convenience in illustrating the safety circuit c', c, in whichlattci arc interposed the electrical generator g, the-electro magnet E,the cable loop c, and the switches s, s, one of the latter beingprovided for each door D in the elevator shaft.

c, represents a contact button or switch upon and traveling with thelcar and interposed in the, cable loop c2, said switch c, being normallyclosed.

The switches s, s, are of any suitable form or construction, providedthat each is adapted to close automatically when the door connectionwith which it is arranged is opened. Thus, by way of illustration c',are stationary contacts, and s2, are movable contacts held normally awayfrom the stationary contacts s, against the resistance of springs s3, bybearings d, on the doors l) when the latter are closed. The opening of adoor allows the spring s, to force the movable contact s?, intoengagement with the stationary contact s', thereby closing the circuit.Both tht stationary and the movable contacts are preferably though notnecessarily ofthe knife blade class. -f

The motor controlling mechanism M consistspriinarily of the usual pilotvalve m, or any other device that may be opeiated by the lever L orequivalent mechanical expedient. As shown in the drawings the lever isof the second order, being fulcrumed at l, upon a stationary part, ispivotal'ly connected at Z, to the valve rod fm', and attached at Z2,near its outer end to the elevator line c by the usual swivelcoupling.The outer extremity of the controlling lever L is preferably rectangularor it is otherwise `formed with a locking portion l, for engagement withthe twin latches e, c.

The locking mechanism which is a special feature ofmy invention consistsof an electro-magnetic solenoid e,`interposed in the circuit c', asbefore stated, and controlling a plunger c, to which is secured a crosshead of non-magnetic material c, On this cross head c, are mounted thetwin latches e, e, in the. following manner. Each latch e, is angular incross section (preferably rectangular as shown in the drawings) andrests in part in a correspondingly formed recess r, in al flange r', ol'the supporting plate li.. Proectnig from the rear of each latch ce, and

integral therewith is a rod e, passing through'. 110

a perforation in the cross head" c, and

4is broken and the headed or shouldered at the rear end to prevent itswithdrawal therefrom. Surrounding the rod e4, and interposed between thelatch e and the cross head c3, is a coiled spring e, whichtendsconstantly to press and hold the latch away from the cross head e3,and as the plunger c2, is normally, (when thecircuit n, is open) heldretracted by the spring e,`

with thecross head c3, resting against the frame r2, or other stationarypart, it follows that under these conditions the curved outer ends ofthe latches will be retracted within the recesses r, r, as shown 'inFigs. l, 2 and 3. ln Fig. 6, the plunger e2, is shown as advanced by theclosing of the current, thereby projecting the outer ends of the latchese, e,

beyond the recesses r, and into the ath of the locking portion Z3, ofthe lever ,-this forward thrust being limited by reason of the contactof a shoulder e, on the plunger e2, with the inner side of the frame r2,or by any other suitable stopping device.

The twin latches e, e, are arranged in practically the same plane asthat of the motion of the controlling lever L to the locking portion Z3,ci which they are opposed, rl`he distance between the opposed innersides ci the latches e, e, is equal approximately to the width of thelocking portion Z3, of the con.-v

trolling lever L, so that when the latter is in its intermediate orneutral position its loching portion will coincide with the spacebetween the twin latches e, e, and if the latter are advanced by thesolenoid e', nwill be locked thereby against movement in eitherdirection as illustrated in solid lines in Fig. t3. it is to beunderstood that ii the twin latches are advanced before the lookin fportion Z3,

of the lever L attains this neutraV position, as l While it is ineither" of the positions indicated by dotted lines in lFig. 6, themoving of said locking portion Z3, into said neutral position will, byreason of its contact with the inclined face e", ci the latch,automatically force the latter back against the resistance of whentraveling in either direction and in/ and by which it will be positivelyheld against further movement in either direction until released by theretractile movement of the twin latches c, e, when the electric circuitplunger e2, released by the solenoid e. l

This form of locking mechanism possesses many practical advantages. '.ltis comparatively cheapand sim le,. works freely and with the minimum ciictional resistance so' that a low voltage is suil'lcient to operate itand whil'epositive in operation is, of a yielding character thateliminates all danger of fracture from undue :stiaiiif ln factalllateral strain on the parts other than the bodies of the twin latchesc, e, and the opposed side walls oi the recesses r, isobviated, and assaid side walls arel oi steel or other hard .metal and rit snugly aroundthe latches the and roviding means upon the car itself tor creasing theelectric circuit andreleasing the controlling lever, l-obviate alldanger of the oar being stalled betweendoors if one of the latter shouldbe opened accidentally orl otherwise while the car is in an intermediateposition, and also facilitate access to the top or bottom ol" the carfor purposes or' cleaning, repair or the like.

VJ hat l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis, v v

i. ln elevator saiet. appliances of the character designated, t1 ecombination of an electric circuit including one or more doorcontrolledswitches, motor-controlling'mecha'n'sm, a controlling lever connectedtherewith, an e'lectromagnet in said circuit consisting .of a solenoidand plunger, twin latches mounted upon said plunger by means' whichallow them to yield lengthwise .under pressure, said latches beingarranged to lock said controlling lever in its neutral position, andlateral supports for said latches.

2. In elevator safety' appliances oi' the character designated, thecombination of an electric circuit including one or more doorcontrolledswitches, motor-controlling mechanism, a controlling lever connectedtherewith, an elcctromaonet in said electric circuit l consisting of asollenoid and plunger, two

yielding latches mounted upon said plunger, said latches beingfiormedwith inclined faces and being arranged to lock said controlling lever inits neutral position, and lateral supports for said latches. i

3. ln elevator safety appliances of the character designated, thecombination of arr electric circuit including, one or moredoorcontrolled switches, motor-controlling mechanism, a controllinglever connected therewith, an electromagnet in said electric circuitconslstingoi a solenoid and plunger, a cross `lead on said plunger, sring latches mounted dilsaid cross-head an termed with inclined faces,and lateral supports for said latches, the latter being arranged to locksaid controlling lever in its neutral position.

4. In elevator safety appliances of the character designated, thecombination of an electric circuit including one or `more doorcontrolledswitches, a car, a switch on said car included in said electric circuit,motor controlling mechanism, a controlling lever connected therewith, anelectro magnet in said circuit consisting ofA a solenoid and v -l Iplunger, ,twin latches mounted upon said lun'er by means which allowthem to yield engtrhwise under pressure, said latches being arranged tolock said controlling lever in its 15 neutral position, and lateralsupports for said latches.

VILLIAM J. KERN.

Vitnesscs: A

D. W. GARDNER, GEO. WM. Mnvrjr.

